Follow those simple rules and you have a very good story, poem, novel, screen play, anything that needs to be written.

• No attention to meter or rhythm - Poetry can be rhyming or non-rhyming (free verse), but in either case it should follow a consistent pattern or beat. Amateur poets often set up a meter and then break it, or simply ignore meter altogether.
• Forced or bad rhymes - Rhyming poetry can be fantastic, but the rhyming words can be awkward or downright hilarious if the word choice is random. Some poets are so desperate to keep the previous line that they will use any rhyming word in the following line to keep it going.
• Clichés - One of the most wonderful aspects of poetry is the chance to hear objects, feelings and situations described in unique ways. Poems full of overused comparisons - “Her eyes were as blue as the sky,” “My heart beats like a drum,” “He ran like the wind,” and the like, are seen as unoriginal and lazy.
• Thinly disguised attempt to flatter or charm the subject of the poem - I have been guilty of this one in my teen years. Some poets write "to" the object of their affection, using the poem as a sort of persuasive letter set to rhyme. Unless the poet is exceptionally talented, this is usually a disaster in the poetic sense.
• Thinly disguised rant about life - Similar to the "I love you" poem, some poets use poetry as an outlet to gripe about their lives. Usually no one cares except the "poet."
• Cookie-cutter, “me-too,” unoriginal - These are usually found in Hallmark cards. The rhyme and meter is correct, the words are pleasant, but no new ground is broken. The reader won't remember the poem five minutes after it has been read. Poetry should be chocolate for the senses…Rich in the mind, pleasant to the mouth and a bit intoxicating!
• Overused, conventional themes - Some subjects have been "done to death" in poetry. Easily the most overused topic of all time is love, followed by exhausting descriptions of nature, weather, etc. The more original the topic of the poem, the less chance that it will tread on familiar ground or be underwhelming.
• Preachy propaganda set to rhyme - Writing poetry about the things that you believe in is a good idea. Using poetry as a blunt weapon to hammer your point home to the reader regardless of poetic integrity is not.
• Pedestrian language, no nuances - Vocabulary and a mastery of nuance is essential to good poetry. Poetry should be as precise as possible. Vague simple words like "good," bad,' "love," and "honesty" should be replaced with either exact descriptions of what you mean or more accurate words.
• Too common of description - This is a close cousin to the previous point. Poetry that is lazy uses the obvious descriptions - bark is rough, wind is cold, the waves pound the shore. Good poetry makes these descriptions come alive through great metaphor and odd yet evocative comparisons.

The Bottom Line: Now that you know what not to do, you have a starting point!

Poetry is quite a bit trickier to teach than storytelling, mainly because of the closer emotional bond that the poet has with his work. Many poets are under the belief that anything they write is "right" because it comes from their emotional center - thus, they resist any attempt at criticism or efforts to alter their work in any way. Because of this philosophy, bad poetry is allowed not only to exist but to flourish (I will define "bad poetry" in the first lesson). If a student wishes to improve their craft, it is essential to shed some ego and admit that there is in fact room for improvement.

As I proceed both in my real-life classroom and in my lessons online, I welcome questions, comments and suggestions. My curriculum is still being developed, so it is quite possible that I may overlook an important aspect of poetry. As with the Storytelling lessons, I will focus less on the technical aspects and more on the finer points of poetry.

What is a sequel? The sequel is the development that glues the scenes together. In a sequel the hero reacts to the previous scene, evaluates his position, commiserates with his sidekick and plans for the next scene. A sequel can (and in most cases, should) include action, but the action in the sequel doesn't directly move the plot.

Example: Suppose we are writing a novel about Fred the Corporate Man. Fred's goal is to be promoted (story question), but a nasty boss stands in the way (conflict). His storyline could look like this:

[SCENE] - Fred has a meeting with Mr. Scrooge. Scrooge assigns Fred the worst project in the company in the hopes that he will fail and be fired.

[SEQUEL] - Fred discusses this setback with Tom, his co-worker sidekick. Through his conversation with Tom, he plans to turn the disastrous project into a winner, leapfrogging his reputation over and past Mr. Scrooge and obtaining his goal of a promotion.

[SCENE] - The next day, Fred begins to assemble his project team. Mr. Scrooge interferes again by making Fred accept the worst performers in the company into his new project group.

[SEQUEL] - Fred goes home to his wife after a grueling 12 hour day. She comforts him and assures him that he can succeed.

In this way, each scene changes the status of the story goal, causing the hero to adjust his game plan and attitude toward the story situation. Scene and sequel work together to keep the story flowing toward a satisfying conclusion.

How does scene and sequel affect story? The length and frequency of scenes and sequels have a direct impact on both the speed and the tone of the story. Action and adventure stories tend to have long scenes and short sequels, making a fast plot. Romance and mainstream novels may have short scenes and long sequels, making the story more introspective and emotional. For example, in a romance novel the heroine may have a luncheon with her lover that lasts for only two or three pages, and then have a ten page sequel in which she reviews and analyzes everything that her lover said and did during the meal.

Should I plan scenes and sequels beforehand? If you are a plotter type of writer, scenes and sequels can be outlined beforehand, but it is not necessary. What is important is that you are able to recognize the scenes and sequels after you have produced your first full draft. By lengthening or shortening the scenes and sequels you can produce the desired effect and keep the plot moving smoothly.

Should scenes and sequels always be in order? Often you can juggle scenes and sequels to add mystery and suspense to your plot. Often you can open your story with a scene that leaves a lot of mystery, providing the accompanying sequel later. A prime example would be a murder mystery. Here we show the aftermath of the murder, deliberately leaving out the murder commission scene and the sequel that shows the motive and premeditation of the crime. The mystery writer gives the reader the story out of order to hide facts and add the mystery component. Here is another example:

Chronological Order

Scene 1: Bob has an affair with his secretary.

Sequel 1: He starts planning to leave his wife.

Scene 2: Bob's wife June finds out about his infidelity through a mutual friend.

Sequel 2: Unwilling to let Bob get away with this, June plans to leave Bob.

Scene 3: Bob decides to buy two tickets to Hawaii for his lover and himself.

Sequel 3: Bob discusses his plans with his lover.

Scene 4: June goes to the bank and empties out the bank accounts. She packs everything into a U-Haul truck and leaves town.

Scene 5: Bob tries to buy the plane tickets. His debit card is denied.

Scene 6: Bob finds out that June has taken all of the money and left.

Now, if we want to make this fairly straightforward plot a bit more interesting, we can move a few scenes and sequels out of order. Perhaps we will show Scene 1 and Sequel 1, skip to Scene 3 and Sequel 3, then move on to Scene 5. Like Bob, the reader won't see the surprise of the empty bank accounts coming. After Bob has had his shock, we the writer can go back and reveal Scene 2, Sequel 2 and Scene 4, allowing the reader to see exactly how Bob ended up in this unfortunate situation.

The Bottom Line: Understanding scene and sequel gives you an added amount of control over your story's pace and timing!

When you're writing something, it doesn’t matter what, whether it is an essay or a simple note you need a topic and the topic should be whatever you are passionate about or you know a lot of that particular subject, or sometimes the topic is assigned to you that is when you got to do a lot research but with technology today that shouldn’t be to hard. If you have a hard time to figure out what to write about do a little brainstorming and then evaluate each one and whatever is number one than that is the one that is more important to you and the topic that you know a lot about.

Now you’re ready for the next part and that is to write down your ideas and explain each ideas which means to have a step by step detailed instructions that should be followed and if not followed the ideas would not work.

Everything that you write or read has a point of view so you as the writer you need to know what that point you want to make and state it. So for and example: your topic that you chose was Kittens so your point might be that they are cute and soft .

Next thing you need is the body this is where everything comes together. You have a main point and in that main point you will have sub points (points relating to main point) with the sub points you need to give more information on them.

At the beginning of your writing you need an introduction you need to tell the reader what your topic is and you need to catch the readers attention whether it is the colouring or big lettering, different writing format, point forms or just a real good topic that everybody can relate to.

At the end of your writing you need a conclusion so you need to review and a summary of your points put some perspective on the points, your feeling on the topic and sometimes it is helpful to have an anecdote. If you know you have to do a follow-up writing then in your closing you should also say something that will make your readers wanting more.

Wait! You’re not finished yet, Don’t worry the last thing is really simple because basically the computer will tell you if there are any spelling mistakes or any grammar mistakes.

1. The effect must be very close to the cause. If you have Bill punch Jack in the face, move on to your dramatic dialogue, change point of view for a couple of chapters, and then return to Jack and show that his nose is bleeding, your reader may have to pause and try to remember exactly why that should be. Keeping your cause and effect relationships close together helps to eliminate confusion.
2. As much as possible, keep causal relationships separate. In other words, don't show Cause 1, Cause 2, Effect 1, Cause 3, Effect 2…. Again this creates confusion in the reader and slows enjoyment of the story. Using the fighting analogy again, you wouldn't show Bill punching Jack, Bill kicking Jack in the shins, Jack reeling from the punch, then Jack holding his knee. Show the punch, the head moving back, the kick and then the knee holding reaction.
3. Don't overwhelm a character with actions. If Marsha screams at Adam, throws a bottle at his head, threatens to call the police on him and shoots him with pepper spray, now what will he do? He has too much stimulus thrown at him at once for him to react to all of it. Try to keep it to one action plus one reaction at a time.
4. Sometimes the reaction will be unexpected. For example: “Will you marry me?” John asked Julie. Julie hit John over the head with a beer bottle. At this point, the reader is saying, “whaaat?” Obviously there is something missing here. In a scenario like this, an internalization (character's thoughts) is needed to clear up the confusion. The edited version will look like this: “Will you marry me?” John asked Julie (cause/action). How could he ask me now, she thought. Now that I've finally given up on him and said yes to Fred? What a jerk! A sudden fit of anger hit her (internalization). Julie hit John over the head with a beer bottle (effect/reaction). Now the reaction makes sense.

What is continuity? Simply put, continuity is story logic. When you start a plot element and don't finish it, make characters behave contrary to what we expect, make the reader focus on an object or person and then don't make them significant later, you have committed a continuity lapse. Unlike reality, nothing should be arbitrary in your story. The following are some common continuity lapses that should be avoided:

1. The insignificant object. As we discussed in Lesson 11, an object, location or person should not be described in great detail unless they are essential to the story. Think of description as pointing a video camera at an object during a movie. If you make a big deal out of pointing out an object and then you never refer to it again, it gives the reader the impression that you are either a sloppy storyteller or that you forgot that object.
2. The inconsistent character. This one refers to a previous lesson also, Lesson 5. Once you have established the basic nature of a character, you must stick to that personality. It is a challenge to establish personality in a character in the first place, and if you go counter to it you will ruin all of your previous hard work. Honest characters don't steal, prudish heroines don't fall into bed without any resistance, and shy characters don't sing karaoke unless a death threat is involved. It is okay for a character to have opposing characteristics, but you must establish that early and often. The continuity lapse occurs when you break character late in the story, after the personality has been set in stone.
3. The dangling plot point. Any time you put a twist or significant development in your plot, it should have a downstream effect on the rest of the story. When significant events happen that have no effect on the story, it can make the story lose its punch and feel trite. For example, if you show Jeremy cheating on his wife, he should be shown dealing with that later in the story at some level. If he has his fling and then it is never mentioned again, the reader feels as if that event meant nothing to the character, and they lose respect for the character and consequently, the plot itself. Even if Jeremy is a villain, this event should serve to solidify his wanton ways or lead to further debauchery. If an event is meaningless to the plot, either greatly downplay it or eliminate it altogether.
4. The cut scene. Sometimes you will have two or more storylines that are running parallel to one another. This can be a great way to keep a story alive, changing viewpoint every so often to keep the reader engaged, leaving one character at a great narrative hook moment to focus on another. It is very important that when you leave one storyline for another, you must pick the first storyline up in a place that logically follows where the reader left him/her. Example: At the end of Chapter 3, Edgar has had a terrible car wreck. We leave him in this predicament for a couple of chapters while we explore our second storyline. In Chapter 7, we open with Edgar boarding a plane for Paris. What is missing here? If you want to move from a car accident to an international flight, you can. To pull this off you must add a segue, such as, “People stared at the bandage on Edgar's head as he waited in line for his luggage.” As long as you refer to the previous scene, your reader can handle the change of setting. If you leave out the linking actions or phrases, it prompts the reader to thumb back to the past chapter, wondering what he or she missed.
5. Abandoning the story question. Hopefully you have accepted by now that the story question IS the story. If you wander too far from the basic premise of the plot, you will eventually lose your reader. Nothing is more frustrating as a reader than to read fifty pages of something only to find out that it has no effect whatsoever on the story question that we have invested time and interest in finding the answer to.

The Bottom Line: It is very important that everything you write is logical and consistent. Help your reader to follow and enjoy your story without messing with his head!

1. Read the news. The daily newspaper is a great source of inspiration, regardless of what genre you write in. New technology can spark a sci-fi idea. Celebrity scandal can be great fodder for a confession-style novel. Unusual crimes, political instability, business maneuvers, even the obituaries can jog an association and get your creative juices flowing.
2. Reverse an expectation. Taking a person, group of people or situation and making it the opposite of what is expected can make interesting stories. For example, in my first novel I took a homeless man and made him into my protagonist. Taking someone that we sniff at as we drive past them at 60 MPH and making him sympathetic challenged me as a writer and made for an interesting tale. For more details, read Lesson 10: Reversal of Expectation.
3. Mix and match. Sometimes you can get a new idea by combining two or more traditional genres into the same story. How about a romantic novel that takes place on a space station? How about a horror novel set in a Western town at the turn of the century? Playing with genre conventions like this can create a very fresh feeling story.
4. Revamp a classic. There are many classic stories that can be reinvented or retold with a new slant. For example, nearly every vampire novel ever written either uses or reverses the standards set by the novel "Dracula" by Bram Stoker. Take a classic that you have enjoyed, analyze what you like about it, and see if you can add to its high points while injecting your own flavor and improving the elements that you didn't enjoy about the original.
5. Do a technological update. Revolutions in communications, transportation, medicine and other technologies make some stories obsolete, while at the same time opening new possibilities. Think about the invention of the cell phone. How did that alter the old "car breaks down in a deserted area" type horror novel? You can take an old storyline and apply new technologies to it to see what problems it eliminates, and more importantly, what new problems it creates.
6. Travel! Visiting new regions, climates and countries stimulates your creativity and gives you a new perspective on your home life. Whenever you have the time and money, see new places as much as possible.
7. Try new hobbies. Almost anything new that you learn can give you ideas for a story. Adventurous hobbies tend to help the most. Outdoor activities like whitewater rafting, hiking and camping not only provide an instant change of scenery but also help by providing an atmosphere void of "civilization chatter," allowing you to be absorbed in your own thoughts without the television/radio/computer demanding a portion of your brainwaves. Learning about new cultures through museum tours, art galleries and other cultural areas of interest can provide a good perspective. Attending theater plays, ballet and opera can help you to explore your own emotions and appreciate how visuals and ambiance can stimulate certain feelings.
8. Change your crowd. Meeting interesting, intelligent and well-traveled people is a good way to stimulate thought, which spawns ideas. Having a friendly debate with someone who thinks opposite of the way that you do can help you to more strongly define your own values and also expose yourself to alternative ways to think. Try making friends with people who are in different categories of age, ethnicity and culture than you. Not only will this help with ideas, but it can also give you inspiration for new characters to people your novel.
9. Explore your family tree. You can be pleasantly surprised at the exploits of your own ancestors. The true life adventures of your past family can be a good source of storytelling.
10. Imagine the sequel to a favorite story. The best stories leave the reader wanting more. If there is a story that you love and wish that "they" would make a sequel, try imagining that sequel yourself. Of course you cannot write an actual sequel to a novel unless you have express written permission from the original author, but you can create an original sequel-like plotline and insert your own characters into this scenario.

Imagery Tips:

• Choose to describe things that have a direct impact or importance in your story. The amount of space that you devote to describing something should be directly proportional to its significance. When you spend a paragraph describing an object that doesn't end up affecting the story at all, it gives your reader the sense that you "forgot" about that important object or made a mistake in your storytelling.
• When describing, be sure to use all five senses. If you find yourself describing everything visually, for example, try telling the reader what something feels like or sounds like.
• Leave something to the reader's imagination. If you give the reader every little detail about something, it destroys their chance to see it for themselves.
• As much as possible, surround your imagery with action. Imagery is a form of exposition, which slows a story down. It is very helpful to remember the "Show Vs. Tell" lesson. Example: You want the reader to know that Adrian has red hair. Instead of saying, “Adrian was a red-haired man,” say that, “Adrian ran a shaking hand through his auburn hair.” Not only did you reveal that he has red hair, you also showed the reader that Adrian is anxious or stressed about something, all in an action sentence.
• Don't be redundant. In other words, use only one, maybe two, and never three adjectives to describe one feature. She can have blonde hair, she might have long blonde hair, but she should never have curly long blonde hair! Be concise and keep the story flowing.

What is dialogue attribution? When you have a quote and you end it with "He/She/Earl said/muttered/growled/" and so on. Generally it is best to end every quote with a simple he said/she said. Resist the temptation to qualify your quotes with any other word unless it is absolutely necessary. The content of the dialogue should let the reader know whether the words are whispered, screamed or crooned.

What are adverbs? Adverbs are to verbs (action words) what adjectives are to nouns (subjects). Most adverbs end in -ly, such as quickly, nervously and unquestionably. Adverbs are easy to overuse, because they seem to make clear what action is taking place. Much like dialogue attribution, adverbs can become a crutch to the writer who is unsure if he/she is getting their point across. It is much better to arrange your action and build your scene in such a way that the adverb is unnecessary. When evaluating a scene that you have written, it is a great idea to go through and eliminate all of the adverbs and re-read the scene to see which adverbs were necessary to understanding.

The Bottom Line: Imagery will make your story enticing, as long as you use just enough without over- or under-doing it. Adjectives assist with imagery if used one or two at a time. Adverbs and dialogue attributions are generally a bad idea and should be eliminated first. Control your imagery and you will make exciting and deep scenes.

So, what is it? Simply put, we determine what the logical assumption is about a character, situation or plotline, and then we turn it upside down. By giving the reader exactly the opposite of what he expects, we surprise him and awaken the part of his brain that has "turned off" because it thinks that it already knows what will happen next. Don't worry if that sounds strange, I will provide plenty of examples!

Reversal of expectation in characters: A character can become instantly intriguing if he or she behaves just the opposite of the way that we expect. We as readers are surprised if the serial killer turns out to be a female, or if the menacing biker guy turns out to be the hero of the piece. Giving a predicable character unexpected traits can make comic or dramatic results. In the movie "The Princess Bride," there is a scene that shows a Catholic priest, dressed in full formal attire and looking very wise and stern. Then he opens his mouth and we find out that he has a terrible speech impediment. The idea of a public speaker with a lisp is funny because we completely don't expect it. In the movie "Deep Blue Sea," a character played by a famous celebrity is making a rousing "we can do this if we try" type speech and he is suddenly eaten, mid-sentence, by a shark. An otherwise average movie is made memorable by that extremely unexpected moment. When you are casting a character in your plot, try imagining the least likely person to fit in that role. You may surprise yourself with the results.

Reversal of expectation in plot: Most stories follow very familiar plotlines, especially in genre writing. When we are reading a romance novel, for example, we know that the man and woman who hate one another at the beginning will end up in love. We attend a slasher movie and we expect the maniac to "rise from the dead" one last time before he is finally dispatched by the hero or heroine. There are many similar "rules" that are well known within certain types of stories. When you find yourself in a cliché plot situation, try to think of an original way to end it. A screenplay writing student presented a scene to me from a script that he was working on. In the scene, a female assassin is planning to bed her victim and kill him in the morning. I suggested that he show the assassin hiding the knife under the mattress and falling asleep. Flash forward to the next morning, and she awakes to find that she overslept. Her intended victim has found the weapon, and he has tied her to the bed. The predator is now the prey. The point is to fool your reader/viewer into thinking that you will follow convention, and then to smash that convention into a thousand pieces. You want to make them sit up in their seat and say, “I didn't see that coming!”

Reversal of expectation in the climax: The most important place to use RoE is at the climactic point of the story. Your hero is finally confronting the villain. His back is against the wall. It seems that there is no way he can win. Then, suddenly he pulls that final ace out of the deck and comes through at the last possible moment. A classic reversal climax comes at the end of the movie "The Karate Kid." Our hero has been grievously wounded in his knee and can barely stand. It is his last chance to win the match and end the story in victory, and we think that there is no way. Suddenly he pulls his injured leg underneath his body, and we recognize the Crane Kick technique that he was working on earlier in the film. He lands the blow and wins the match against all odds, making us want to jump out of our chairs with the excitement. This type of reversal only works if we plant the solution earlier in the story. The reader recognizes the plot element from a prior scene and feels that satisfying sense of "aha!" that rounds out the story.

Rules for reversal of expectation: It is important that any reversal of expectation that you use has three elements. It must be unexpected, logical and satisfying. If you leave out any of these elements, the reversal will not work. For example, it would be unexpected if your perfectly ordinary hero suddenly developed super powers that enabled him to beat the bad guy, but it would not be logical. If the hero comes up with a solution that is both unexpected and logical, but has no basis or buildup in prior story, then you will miss out on the satisfaction that readers get from recognizing the hidden trump card that you cleverly planted and hinted at in your story arc. The easiest way to determine if your reversal works is to ask yourself if you would buy it if you read it in a book written by someone else. If it sounds stupid or implausible to you, it will certainly sound that way to your reader!

The Bottom Line: By manipulating your reader's expectations, you can greatly raise the interest in your story and/or characters. Even one brilliant and well-used reversal of expectation can set your story apart from others of its type.

To understand this term, we need to define the words. As we have defined earlier, a narration is action. A hook is designed to grasp and pull something. So, a narrative hook is an action that pulls your reader further into a story. Anything that arouses curiosity and interest in your reader is a narrative hook. It's that "I couldn"t put it down' sensation that a reader experiences in good stories.

When should I add a narrative hook?

You must add narrative hooks in two different places. The first place, which I will cover with more detail in a moment, is the very beginning of the story. The second place is any section where your story begins to sag. By "sag," I mean parts of your novel (usually in the middle sections) that seem to drag. You may have had a wonderful time crafting the opening to your novel, introducing all those interesting characters that you've created and setting the story question up. You also have probably decided on a climactic, fantastic resolution to your story question and ending, and you're excited about it…but you reach page 150 or so and you start to run out of steam. This is the part of the novel where most writers start to fall out of love with their own work and despair that they'll ever reach the "good part" at the end. Narrative hooks help to prop up these slower parts, much in the same way that tent poles hold up sagging ends of a tent.

How should I begin my story?

The first concept that you must understand is the difference between the story that you tell yourself and the story that you tell the reader. Here is an example. I will now tell you a story idea in chronological (time-line) order:

• John is born into an upper-middle class family
• He has a successful school career and goes to college to become a doctor
• He meets his dream girl, starts a medical practice and buys a home
• He loses his medical license to a malpractice suit
• He finds out that his considerable nest-egg has evaporated, a victim of bad investing
• He loses all of the luxury items that he bought when the money was rolling in
• Finally he loses his house to foreclosure and moves into a seedy motel with his wife and child, totally shamed
• He hits rock bottom, losing everything. Even his wife is threatening to leave him.
• Thorough work and perseverance he begins a business
• He struggles and fights his way back into prosperity and has a happy ending

Now, when I begin to write this story, where should I begin? Many writers want to start telling the story "at the beginning," which seems logical enough. In most cases, this is a mistake. Being as a story needs a narrative hook, we must put the most interesting part of the action first. In this example, I would open Chapter 1 with John and his wife being evicted from their dream home. A mean, hulking cop is standing by, making John feel like a criminal. His 4 year old son is asking Daddy why they have to go away. His wife is in tears. He barely feels like a man as he stows their meager possessions into a second-hand station wagon to take to some seedy motel on the outskirts of town. He is totally disgraced, stressed, reeling from pillar to post trying to deal with this blow. If I succeed as a writer you will finish Chapter 1 feeling sympathy for John and his family, wondering how they ended up in this mess and hoping that they'll find a way out.

But shouldn't I introduce the characters/background/history first?

You will have time to make introductions and reveal (show, never tell!) the back-story later. Keep in mind that you could have the best plot, most engaging characters and most thrilling climax in the world, and it won't matter if it's all buried on page 40, hidden behind page upon page of boring "introduction" and "history." You must put your best foot forward. Shoot for the magical three emotions that a reader should feel on Chapter 1, preferably Page 1: curiosity, empathy and anticipation! In other words, “I wonder what's going on. I feel for this character. I look forward to the next page.”

What about those "tent peg" narrative hooks? How do I create those?

There are several ways to pick up the energy of your work in mid-story. You could throw your hero a major setback that forces them to change their game plan. You could explore your sidekick's goals. You could add a new character that makes the plot more complex. For example, in my first novel I added an unexpected pest/villain when I felt that my hero's action was getting too repetitive. Dealing with this new character gave my hero something different to do for several pages while still trying to march forward to his main goal. Usually when your story starts to get "boring," that means that your hero needs a new challenge. Throw them (and your readers) an interesting curveball!

The Bottom Line:

Narrative hooks create curiosity and interest in your readers and make it difficult to put your story down. Clever use of this device can guarantee that your great tale is read from beginning to end!